The City of Brisbane is seeking a resident to represent the city on the Board of Trustees for the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District. As a member of our Board of Trustees, you would act as a liaison to the City and would assist the District in making decisions for the citizens of our district. Brisbane resident Robert Maynard was Brisbane's Trustee for over 12 years, and just recently stepped down. He provided the City Council with regular program information and was a highly valuable asset to both the City and the Board of Trustees.

As a member of our Board of Trustees, you can be appointed to a two-year or four-year term. District board meetings are once a month and meet on the second Wednesday each month from 6pm to approximately 8pm. They do not meet in August. Click here to read the full Trustee open position announcement. If you would like to apply to serve on the Mosquito & Control District's Board of Trustees, please contact City of Brisbane Interim City Clerk Ingrid Padilla at (415) 509-2113 or ipadilla@ci.brisbane.ca.us. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 16, 2016 at 1pm.

Election Day, Tuesday, November 8th is right around the corner. Brisbane's Polling Place is at City Hall in the Community Meeting Room - 50 Park Place, Brisbane. The polls will be open from 7am - 8pm.

The San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division wants to to be sure that registered San Mateo County voters with disabilities are aware of the various options available to help them vote. Did you know that voters with disabilities that are not able to vote at Brisbane's polling place can take advantage of a Mobile Voting Center (a mobile electronic voting system that allows a voter to independently and in private cast a ballot away from the polling place). People who are registered to vote now have an excellent opportunity to exercise their right to vote, even if they cannot get to their polling site. For more information, please call (650) 312-5222 or e-mail registrar@smcare.org at least 24 hours ahead of time to schedule an appointment.

Meet a real World War II Veteran and long-time Brisbane resident, Sgt. Charles E. “Chuck” Blunt whose war decorations include: a Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart (with an oak leaf cluster for being wounded a second time), the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the American Theater Ribbon with three bronze stars, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Ribbon, and last but not least, the Good Conduct Medal Ribbon.

The California Department of Transportation will be preparing a draft environmental document for the project: US 101 Managed Lanes Project. A scoping meeting and open house will be held October 27th at San Mateo City Hall beginning at 6pm. In this meeting issues, alternatives and potential environmental impacts will be discussed. For more information, click here.

Second, The San Mateo County Transportation Plan 2040 is a long-term transportation document, which is currently open for public comment. The comment period closes October 31st. To learn more about the plan and to download a draft, click here. After you read the plan, you may submit your thoughts by completing this survey.

To facilitate construction of a new water main necessary to replace aging infrastructure and to improve reliability for residents, the City of Brisbane and Erler & Kalinowski, Inc. (the City’s engineering consultant) will be performing 12 soil borings to investigate ground conditions along the length of the proposed new water main. The borings will be drilled at the north and south end of Thomas Avenue; Annis Road south of San Bruno Avenue; the intersection of Annis Road and Humboldt Road; the intersection of Humboldt Road and Sierra Point Road; near 301 and 800 Harold Road; the intersection of Kings Road and Beatrice Road; near 350 and 292 Kings Road; near 4 Margaret Avenue, and at the north end of Paul Avenue (see map below) starting on Monday, October 24, 2016. Construction hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each boring will be completed in approximately one hour. The work is anticipated to be complete in two days.

Construction activities at each boring location include: Setting up construction work areas, drilling borings of approximately 8 inches in diameter and 10 to 15 feet deep, backfilling the boring with cement, and providing traffic control. Construction equipment will include a truck-mounted drill rig.

To facilitate construction, one lane of Thomas Avenue, Annis Road, Harold Road, Humboldt Road, Kings Road, and Margaret Avenue in the direct vicinity of the borings may be closed for up to one hour at a time during construction hours. Cones and signs will be posted, and flaggers will direct traffic when needed. Motorists and pedestrians are advised to use caution when traveling through the area.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this work. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, please contact the Public Works Department at 415-508-2130.

Mayor Lentz and Councilwoman O'Connell will be conducting a workshop tonight (10/24) on Airport Noise that will be taking place at City Hall starting at 5pm in the Community Meeting Room, 50 Park Place, Brisbane. It will also be televised on Ch. 27 and streamed live on the City's live streaming page. The video recording will be posted here after the workshop for anyone who was not able to attend.

Ordinance No. 611 regarding prohibition of smoking in Multi-Unit Residences; Expiration of Moratorium on Establishing and Operating “Vape” Shops was introduced at the City Council Meeting of October 20, 2016. Please note that this item will be considered for adoption at the November 3, 2016 City Council Meeting at the City of Brisbane Community Meeting Room, 50 Park Place, Brisbane, CA 94005. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00 P.M.

At last night's City Council meeting, Sue Cochran was recognized by the City Council for being Brisbane's 2016 Volunteer of the Year.

Each year, the City recognizes a Brisbane resident as its “Volunteer of the Year”, who the ad hoc City Council subcommittee selects after carefully reviewing letters of recommendation from other community members. The Volunteer of the Year award is bestowed upon a dedicated community member that has demonstrated ongoing commitment to the City of Brisbane. They act with the purpose of community in mind and give selflessly to others. The news of the year’s top volunteer is traditionally announced at the Day in the Park Festival. This year, the honors went to Sue Cochran.

Sue is known throughout the community for her contributions in many areas and is devoted to personally improving the quality of life for Brisbane residents. Of the many nominations received in support of Sue, most all echoed her “bright smile, great attitude, and genuine willingness to help.”

Sue has donated countless hours as an active Lion’s Club member and is a part of the Derby Volunteer team. She has led the Maker’s Club for Lipman’s afterschool program, and volunteers at Lipman’s Career Day. When Santa wasn’t available, she even stepped in as Mrs. Claus to visit students with special needs at BES.

In addition, Sue is known by fellow residents for taking Brisbane beautification into her own hands by sweeping Visitacion and cleaning areas of town on her own time. She frequently assists neighbors with landscaping, and is always the first to volunteer to help a senior in need. Her passion for serving others and unselfish enthusiasm is to be commended.

Many thanks to you, Sue, for your decades of volunteerism in our community and a well-deserved achievement as Brisbane’s 2016 Volunteer of the Year!

The Planning Commission is responsible for making recommendations to the City Council on re-zonings and amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and the City's General Plan. The Commission typically reviews and acts upon applications for Use Permits, Design Permits, Variances and Sign Permits.

The Planning Commission meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month @ 7:30pm.

Save the dates! Five Saturdays this fall a Look Ahead-San Mateo project team member and local San Mateo County organizations will be on-hand to discuss coastal flooding and sea level rise challenges at the OWL virtual reality viewers in Coyote Point Recreation Area (next to Boardsports California) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.:

Oct. 8 Oct. 22 Nov. 5 Nov. 19 Dec. 3

In partnership with Climate Access, FEMA Region IX and Owlized, the County of San Mateo has installed two virtual reality viewfinders at Coyote Point through December 2016.

The OWLs are a modernized version of a vista viewer that offer visitors a panoramic tour of current and future flooding scenarios, current plans for the Point, and potential planning responses for the region into the future. The goal of the effort is to engage the residents of San Mateo County and increase awareness around the local impacts of sea level rise.

Group Solar and Electric Vehicle Buy Program to Lower Cost of Purchasing Solar and EVs for Local Residents

In August 2016, Brisbane joined other nearby cities in an initiative called Bay Area SunShares. Similar to last year’s program Peninsula SunShares, it’s an effort to encourage many more Bay Area homeowners to go solar and fossil fuel free.

The Bay Area SunShares program allows local residents to pool their purchasing power and receive bulk discounts for installing solar systems, and receive a discount on select zero-emission vehicles. Free community workshops were held in Brisbane on August 31 and October 8, 2016.

The 2016 Bay Area SunShares program is available for homeowners living in the City of Brisbane or those working in participating communities but living throughout the nine Bay Area counties. Multiple financing options are being offered including direct purchase, leasing, power purchase agreements and Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.

Qualified property owners will receive a free site evaluation to determine the suitability of their property. If their site is suitable, they will receive a no obligation proposal and can install a system at substantial cost savings from three local solar installers: Sunrun, Inc. Skytech Solar and Solar 4 America Petersen Dean were selected by the Bay Area SunShares community evaluation committee following a rigorous Request for Proposals process that vetted potential vendors. Two car dealers were also selected through this process: Nissan and Toyota. To take advantage of the volume discount, participants must sign a contract with one of the selected installers or purchase a vehicle by November 11, 2016.

Similar SunShares programs have been launched throughout the Bay Area resulting in hundreds of new solar installations and more than 3.4 megawatts of residential solar capacity. The SunShares program is based on successful models developed by the cities of Portland and San Jose in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. In just the past few years, successful campaigns have spread from Oregon and California across the country to Colorado, Illinois and New York.

Bay Area SunShares is being administered by the San Francisco Business Council on Climate Change (a fiscally sponsored project of the 501(c)3 organization, Community Initiatives), on behalf of a group of cities, counties, major employers, and membership organizations.

The San Mateo County Transit District Board of Directors is seeking applicants to fill two public-member seats on its board that will expire on Dec. 31, 2016. The Board sets policy for the District, which is responsible for the county-wide SamTrans bus service and paratransit service for people who are not able to ride regular fixed route service. The deadline for submitting an application is Friday, November 4.Click for more information and how to apply.

C/CAG (City/County Assoc. of Governments of San Mateo County), currently has four vacant seats for public members on its Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). The BPAC provides advice and recommendations to the C/CAG Board of Directors on all matters relating to bicycle and pedestrian facilities planning and on the selection of projects for state and federal funding. The deadline for submitting an application is Friday, November 18.Click for more information as well as the application.

Our town grieves for the sudden loss of a Brisbane resident, who was involved in a fatal collision on Tuesday, October 11th where two others were also injured. The cause of the collision is currently under investigation by the Brisbane Police Department and the San Mateo County Coroners Office. The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office has also been notified.

On October 13, 2016 at 11:56 a.m., 10 Fire Companies, 1 Breathing Support Unit, 5 Chief Officers and 1 Fire Investigator responded to a structure fire at 8 Thomas Avenue in the City of Brisbane.

The first arriving fire company found a one story, split level, single family home that was under construction, with heavy smoke and flames coming from the roof and sides of the home. Fire companies surrounded the exterior of the home and used hose lines to contain the fire. The home sustained major fire damage as it was still under construction and had no sheetrock on any of the interior walls or attic space.

Fire companies remained on scene for over 5 hours checking for fire extension, completing overhaul and mop up operations. There were no residents displaced by the fire as the home was still under construction. There were no injuries to any of the firefighters.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the North County Fire Prevention Services Bureau.

There was a lot of discussion at the September 15th Council Meeting regarding airplane noise under "Mayor/Council Matters" where Mayor Lentz talked about this quality of life issue. Thus, Mayor Lentz will be holding another public meeting on Tuesday, October 11th at City Hall in the Community Meeting Room, starting at 6:30pm. The items to be discussed include:

Analyzing the data from the new three temporary monitors on Kings Rd., Lipman Middle School, and Mission Blue Center, if available